Weapon's Master Naruto
by ninofchaos
Summary: On Naruto’s 7th birthday, Naruto survived an attempt against his life though not unharmed. Naruto lost his ability to mold chakra. Despite the fact that he can’t mold chakra, Naruto decides to achieve his goal of being Hokage by becoming a weapon’s master
1. Resolve

DISCLAIMER: DON'T OWN NARUTO

**AN: For those who are curious, I'm not dead. I've just been through a serious writer's block as well as going through something known as the real world. Sorry for the long delay. Even though I haven't posted anything in a long while, I've made small edits here and there. College has taken up a lot of time and I seriously hate my computer for continuously being stupid and not saving my files. I've finally reformatted my computer, but I don't know how long it'll last before my computer goes haywire again. I'll try to update as much as I can, but with the way my job constantly changing my schedule, I'm unable to produce updates like in the days of old. Hope you like the new story that's been stuck in my head for the past couple days that just wouldn't vanish. **

SUMMARY: On Naruto's 7th birthday, Naruto survived an attempt against his life though not unharmed. Naruto lost his ability to mold chakra during the latest attempt against his life. Despite the fact that he can't mold chakra, Naruto decides to achieve his goal of being Hokage by becoming a weapon's master.

* * *

**Weapons Master Naruto**

Chapter 1: Resolve

The day of Naruto's seventh birthday has certainly been a strange one so far as Naruto lied down on his bed and thought about what happened earlier on during the day.

To start things off, the owner of the orphanage that Naruto was living in earlier that day decided to kick Naruto out as a birthday present. Saddened, Naruto went to Ichiraku's to eat some ramen before deciding on what to do next. The owner of the ramen stand looked at his favorite customer and decided to give him a few bowls free of charge as a birthday present. Naruto happily accepted and was surprised to see that the Sandaime Hokage was sitting beside him a few minutes later. The Sandaime told Naruto that he was angry that the owner of the orphanage kick him out and was to be punished. This brought a small smile to Naruto's face. Naruto's smile brightened even more as the Sandaime told Naruto that Naruto was to receive his own apartment. He mentioned that it was a birthday present and Naruto never felt so excited. The Hokage handed over the keys to Naruto and said that everything has been set up. After telling Naruto where he was to live, Naruto gave a quick hug to the Hokage and left to enter his new apartment.

That had been a few hours ago and Naruto still felt happy. He then frowned as he looked out at the window. He saw that it was raining. The rain looked like it wasn't going to stop any time soon.

'Man this rain sucks,' Naruto thought to himself. 'When will it end? It's been raining for the past six days. I want to get out of here soon and start working on this prank I've been planning on. Heh, heh, when I'm done with this prank, the old man won't know what'll hit him. This is how I'll thank him for all that he's done for me.'

Naruto got off his bed and entered the kitchen. When Naruto saw what was inside the food cabinet, he nearly died due to shock. The inside of the food cabinet was filled with instant ramen of every variety. After Naruto finished eating two cups, (he wanted the food cabinet to stay as full as possible) Naruto decided to take a nice warm shower since the rain Naruto had been in earlier might give Naruto a cold if he doesn't warm up soon. Naruto enters the bathroom and starts to turn on the water. It was the last thing Naruto remembered before fading into darkness.

* * *

Darkness surrounded Naruto as he awoke. He didn't recognize any of the surroundings since the area he was in was shrouded in the dark. Naruto noticed that he couldn't move feeling that his arms and legs were being bound by what felt to be rope. Sensing that he wasn't alone, Naruto decided to call for help. 

"Help! Is anybody here?" Naruto yelled.

"The demon is awake now is he," a voice replied from somewhere in the darkness.

"Can you help me get out of here?" Naruto asked, not understanding what the voice said very well.

All Naruto felt from the moment the voice replied was fear. He really wanted to escape as he felt an intense wave of killing intent aimed directly towards him. Naruto started to produce tears as he felt a sense of hopelessness. Naruto closed his eyes, seeing that keeping them open would be useless since all there was in the room was absolute darkness.

A couple minutes later, light appeared in the room, but Naruto didn't notice since he had his eyes shut. Naruto felt like he wanted to cry. When Naruto tried to open his eyes, he noticed that a cloth appeared around his eyes and that he was blindfolded. When he tried to yell something out, his mouth was gagged and he couldn't speak. Naruto the noticed that his clothes were being cut and soon felt that all he was wearing left was his favorite pair of underwear. Naruto felt a shiver spread through out his body as he felt something being stroked onto his body. This feeling made Naruto deathly afraid seeing that his was unable to see what was going on or to speak out against whatever it was that was happening. He was completely at the mercy of whoever it was that was holding him. A few minutes later, the strokes of whatever it was that was on his body stopped. Naruto tried to squirm, but was unable to do so from the restraints.

"Now that the demon is restrained and bound, let us begin the ceremony to rid ourselves of this demon. After this day is through, the Kyuubi shall be no more and the nine great beasts, the biju, shall be reduced down to eight."

'This voice,' Naruto cried out in his mind. 'I know I've heard it somewhere before.'

Before Naruto could continue on with his thoughts, Naruto heard that the owner of the voice who just spoke began to speak some foreign language. Naruto felt a burning sensation as if his entire body was on fire. Naruto's eyes shed tears and the pain continued.

The burning sensation soon ended and Naruto felt as if he was fading out into the dark. He felt his life beginning to fade as he was starting to fade into eternal slumber. Before Naruto became unconscious, Naruto heard a familiar voice call out to him as he passed into the silence of sleep.

"Naruto!"

* * *

A week has gone by since Naruto has been held captive. Right now, Naruto was lying down on a bed inside the Konoha hospital facility. The Hokage looked out towards Naruto from an observation window. 

"What's the situation with Naruto?" the Sandaime Hokage asked.

"The de-" the head nurse was about to call Naruto a demon, but a single glance from the Hokage showed that if she was to call Naruto a demon, she would be punished. "The patient is showing signs of his chakra being forcibly taken out of his body. The seal that was placed all over his body should have finished him off. You were lucky that you found him when you did. He probably would have died if he was sent to this hospital a few minutes later.

"The seal that was placed on his body is one that we've never seen before and from we can tell, he won't be able to produce chakra. If he had any ambition to become a ninja, it's all over for him." 'Good riddance' was what the nurse thought silently. She knew that she would be punished if she mentioned that thought out loud.

"I see," the Hokage said sadly. 'Poor Naruto. I wish that I could've been there earlier to help you.' The Hokage thought regretfully.

The next day, Naruto awoke and was told what had happened. Apparently, the one who kidnapped Naruto had vanished as the Hokage himself appeared in battle armor. Naruto was unbound and was immediately sent to the Konoha hospital facility. The Hokage looked at the area he was in and noticed that it was probably one of Orochimaru's former labs before he defected from Konoha. The kidnapper had several accomplices and all were arrested. After a day of interrogation from a man known as Morino Ibiki, the accomplices all mentioned that the man who was their leader was wearing a black cloak that had red clouds placed all over said cloak. The leader mentioned that he was there to annihilate all of the biju and wanted to start things off by eliminating the nine-tails.

"… and after 8 days of sleeping, you finally woke up." The Hokage said to an exhausted Naruto.

Naruto started to cry, tears gushing from his eyes. The Hokage leaned over and started to hug Naruto. After Naruto finished crying a little while later, the Hokage released his hug and looked at Naruto.

"Naruto, there's something else that you should know. Because of the seal that was placed on you, you are unable to wield any chakra that is required to become a ninja. I'm sorry."

"You mean that…" Naruto left his sentence incomplete. The reality of the Hokage's words finally sinking in.

"I truly wished for you to succeed me as Hokage one day." The Sandaime replied, remembering back to a conversation with Naruto at the Ichiraku ramen stand a few weeks ago. Naruto declared that he would become Hokage so the people would see that he isn't whatever it was the people called him.

Naruto looked at the Hokage and asked, "Isn't there any way for me to become a ninja and to take over you position someday?"

"There are very few ninjas who fight without using chakra. I know that Might Gai fights using Taijutsu and rarely uses his chakra. I also remember that there's a shinobi known as Ekichi who is a weapons master. Even though they don't use chakra, they still have the ability to mold it to some degree. I…"

"I've decided," Naruto interrupted. "Since there are ninjas like what you just mention that use tai-whatever, and some ninjas that are weapon masters, I've decided that I too will become a weapons master." Naruto finished.

The Hokage was shocked at what Naruto said and smiled. He never saw Naruto looked so determined and liked the way that Naruto's eyes shown, showing how serious he truly is to his work.

* * *

**AN: Sorry for the short chapter but I felt that I should end the chapter at that point. **

**Chapter two: Weapons Master Ekichi**

**review**


	2. Attack

**Weapons Master Naruto **

Chapter 2: Attack

The next evening, Naruto was deemed well enough to leave the hospital. The Hokage himself decided that he would accompany Naruto home seeing that the boy was a little scared at the moment after the attack nine days ago. It was a clear night with the full moon shining down over the village.

After arriving at the apartment, Naruto grabbed a couple cups of instant ramen from the food cabinet and started to pour water into the cups as he tore the lids open slightly. The Hokage just watched as Naruto placed the ramen into the microwave. Three minutes later, Naruto opened the microwave and gave a cup to the old man.

"This is for you, hope you don't mind," Naruto said as that Hokage grabbed the cup. He picked up a pair of chopsticks and started to eat the ramen.

"Thank you Naruto." The Hokage said, smiling at the youth. "I haven't had instant ramen in a very long time." The Hokage then grabbed some chopsticks and started to eat.

A couple minutes later, the two were finished eating and the Hokage lead Naruto to the living room. Naruto sat down on the couch while the Hokage grabbed a chair from the kitchen and sat.

"So Naruto, what do you plan to do? Currently, there are no weapon masters here in Konoha and I doubt you'll learn anything except for the basics of weapons use at the academy." The Hokage asked.

"I'll find a way. Someway, somehow, I'll become a weapons master and prove to everyone that I'm not what they think I am."

'Very interesting,' the Hokage thought. 'I wish I could find a way to help him, but with all that paperwork at the office that continues to rise as well as handing out mission assignments to the other shinobi, my time for helping the young lad is very limited.'

"Naruto…" the Hokage was then interrupted a second later when someone was knocking on Naruto's door.

The Hokage got up to open the door when Naruto beat him there and already opened it. A gray haired ANBU was at the door and looked at Naruto.

"Excuse me, is it alright if I talk with the Hokage?" the man asked.

Naruto was surprised since it was the first time since someone other then the Hokage and the cook at Ichiraku's ramen stand showed any courtesy towards him. Naruto only nodded his head and got out of the ANBU's way.

"Oh Hatake-kun, what do you need?" the Hokage asked.

"The entire Uchiha clan was wiped out just a short while ago." The man known as Hatake replied. "There is only one survivor, Uchiha Sasuke."

"Do you know who caused the annihilation of the Uchiha clan?" the Sandaime asked.

"It is currently unknown. Sasuke was under the effect of a powerful Genjutsu and is currently resting in order to recover. When he awakens, we'll be able to see who it was that caused the massacre." Hatake answered.

The Hokage nodded his head and looked at a confused Naruto.

"Sorry Naruto, but it looks like I have to be going for now. Hope you can accomplish your dream." The Sandaime said as he started to head out.

Naruto decided to store the information that he heard for later and looked at the Hokage.

"You'll be heading towards retirement soon old man." Naruto replied to the leaving Hokage.

The Hokage didn't look back or acknowledge Naruto. He sported a small smile as he walked away. Hatake looked at Naruto one last time before following the Hokage.

'That kid is going to have a tough road ahead of him.'

**_00000 _**

The next day Naruto was enrolled into the academy. Even though enrollment into the academy was a week ago, the Hokage gave permission that Naruto should be enrolled into the academy. The faculty all protested, trying to say that he should have enrolled a week earlier or that he needs to have his guardian sign the paperwork didn't work and was forced to teach the demon container. They tried to use every legal loophole they could think of only to end in failure since Hokage's word was practically law.

Naruto entered the classroom and saw a bearded man teaching the class. The man looked at Naruto and started to write something on the board.

"Class, this is Uzumaki Naruto and he'll be joining our class today. Naruto-kun, please find a seat and pay attention. Also, for future reference, my name is Sarutori Asuma."

"Yes Asuma-sensei." Naruto replied as he found an empty seat in the back of the class.

Class resumed as normal and everyone seemed to be wary of Naruto. To Naruto, it seems as though they are following in their parents footsteps and decided to avoid him at all times thinking he was nothing more than a troublemaker. At lunch, Naruto ate a cup of instant ramen after finding a kettle of hot water and tried to see where some of the other students were at. A minute later, Naruto was hiding behind a wall as he heard a conversation that seemed to be about him.

"So what do you think of that new kid?" a blond haired female asked to a girl that had pink hair and an unusually large forehead.

"I don't know. I was told by my parents that I should avoid him at all costs. Something about him being a troublemaker and that he's a nasty influence to those who come into contact with him. That's what my mom said anyways." The pink haired girl replied.

Naruto was used to this behavior by now but couldn't stop a tear from coming out of his right eye.

"I don't know. He doesn't look like he's a troublemaker. My father said that he had a harsh life and that it was because of something that happened around the time he was born. My father said that I should at least say hi to him every once in a while. My mother on the other hand seemed to hate Naruto for some strange reason." The blond hair girl said, voicing her opinion.

Naruto was surprised at what he heard. He was constantly told that he was a demon or a monster and that he should just die. He was surprised that there were people who actually didn't hate him. He was about to go talk to the girls when he was attacked from behind. Naruto was knocked out in a single blow to the back of the head.

**_00000 _**

Naruto awoke a few minutes later and noticed that he was bind in chains. He also noticed that he was taken into an abandoned home which seemed to be located near the village border. Naruto saw his captor and saw that there were three kids who appeared to be around 12-13 years of age, two males and a single female.

"Well well, look at what we have here." One of the three kids replied. It seems as if this kid was the leader of the three. "We caught ourselves a demon."

"Who the heck are you and what do you want!" Naruto yelled at the kid.

"We better hurry." The female replied to the leader.

"Yeah, lunch is almost over and we need to finish this." The other male replied.

The leader looked at Naruto with pure hatred shining through his eyes.

"I don't know why they want you to learn the way of the ninja, but we'll make sure that you won't ever become one. It was because of you that we have no family left."

"What do you mean 'it was because of me that we have no family left'?" Naruto asked.

"I not stupid enough to break the Sandaime's law, so let's ignore the small talk and head straight into the action!" the leader yelled as he grabbed a pipe that was handed to him by the female.

The leader of the three swung the bat at Naruto and the pipe connected to his stomach. Naruto let out a loud scream and started to feel a little faint. The other two grabbed some pipes of their own and started to beat on Naruto.

A couple minutes later, the three stopped and the leader grabbed a kunai that was being heated over a fireplace that was in the abandoned home. The leader walked up to Naruto who had passed out from the pain and then looked at his two accomplices.

"Alright, it's time to determine who gets to deal the final blow. If we stay any longer, our senseis will start to worry." The leader said.

"How shall we do this then?" the girl asked to her two comrades.

"Janken seems to be the most logical choice." The male answered.

"It's decided then-" The leader began before he was interrupted.

"-that the three of you shall be punished by my hand." A new voice echoed, the voice appearing to be coming from all over the place.

"Who's there?" the leader asked.

The three moved into a delta formation with each of their backs pressed against each other. Before the three could even react, they were suddenly hit with a sudden burst of killer intent. The three students fell down onto the ground shaking in fear.

"Pathetic." The voice echoed. "If this is the path that Konoha is heading towards, then I will have no choice but to destroy it."

A couple hours later, a team of three Chuunin arrived at the abandoned house and was shocked at what they saw. The three kids were hung up on the far wall unconscious with their hands impaled by kunai. They removed the kunai and two of the three Chuunin took the two kids to the Konoha hospital facility to be treated. The third Chuunin then looked at Naruto and was shocked to see that he was covered in bruises all over his body and it looked as though both his shoulders were dislocated. Seeing that Naruto was still passed out, the Chuunin removed the chains that was binding Naruto and relocated both of Naruto's shoulders. The Chuunin then used five hand-seals and used the summoning technique to summon a bird.

"Kuya-san, please send this message to Hokage-sama at once." The Chuunin replied as he wrote a quick note to tell the Hokage about the findings at the house.

"That won't be necessary," a voice called out to the Chuunin. "You head directly to the Hokage. Tell him that Ekichi is back in town and that he would like to talk to the Hokage."

The Chuunin was about to protest when he remembered an old saying that he had heard from the Chuunin's former sensei.

"Encounter the shinobi that is he who is Ekichi and thy life shall be forfeited if he who is Ekichi sees you as an enemy."

The Chuunin nodded and left immediately headed for where the Hokage was located.

'Kid needs to become stronger.' Ekichi thought as he looked at Naruto's beaten form. 'How did it come to this? Is this the path that Konoha is heading towards?'

**_00000 _**

A few minutes later, the Chuunin arrived at the Hokage's office and started the report.

"Hokage-sama, I managed to find the three missing students as well as Uzumaki Naruto. I don't know how it occurred, but the three students were hanging on the wall with their hands pinned against it with some kunai. It looked as though they were crucified. Uzumaki Naruto has also been located at the same location and was severely beaten. He has bruises coving his body as well as both of shoulders being dislocated. I managed to place the shoulders back into place before receiving a message by he who is Ekichi."

"Ekichi? You mean to tell me that you encountered he who is Ekichi, the world's greatest weapons master that is known through out the entire world?" The Hokage asked in a serious tone.

"Yes Hokage-sama. He told me that he's back in town and that he would like to talk with you." The Chuunin replied.

"I see. Send him here then, and no matter what, do _not_ provoke him in any way. That is a direct order."

"Yes Hokage-sama." The Chuunin replied before leaving the Hokage's office.

'This is a surprise. Weapon's Master Ekichi is back.' The Hokage thought. 'Thank goodness that Tsunade isn't here at the moment. It would be pure chaos if the two were to encounter.'

**_00000 _**

The Chuunin arrived back at the abandoned house and saw that Naruto was almost completely covered in bandages. The only portion of Naruto that wasn't covered was his face. The Chuunin also looked at Ekichi as Ekichi finished placing some bandages around Naruto's chest.

"Hokage-sama said that he would see you immediately." The Chuunin replied.

Ekichi nodded his head and then spoke.

"You may leave."

The Chuunin didn't think twice about leaving and left immediately. The Chuunin figured that the other two Chuunins were at the hospital and started heading towards that direction.

Ekichi gently grabbed Naruto and started to walk to the Hokage tower placing him over his back.

As Ekichi walked to the Hokage tower, he sensed that he was being watched upon by ANBU as well as Jounin. He also noticed that they were keeping themselves a fair distance apart. He soon entered the tower and walked straight into the Hokage's office after climbing up some stairs.

**_00000 _**

The Hokage decided to continue doing some of the paper seeing that it has increased another three inches since the last week. When he heard the door open, he saw that a man of five feet zero inches with crimson red hair and eyes arrive. He wore some black underarmour as well a simple pair of black shorts and a black jean vest. He also had a shield that was attached to a gauntlet on his left arm. The Hokage also noticed that the man was carrying Naruto over his back.

'Still as short as ever I see' were the Hokage's first thought.

"If you're currently thinking that I'm as short as ever, let me tell you one thing old man." Ekichi replied, "I AM NOT SHORT!"

The Hokage looked at Ekichi for a short moment. Seeing the man again after so many years brought back memories of when Ekichi was young.

"So Ekichi, what are you doing here in Konoha?" the Hokage asked after Ekichi placed Naruto down onto the ground gently.

"Nothing much really. The wind was telling me that I was needed here in Konoha for now and as you know, I always follow the voice of the wind." Ekichi answered.

"Well since you're here, I'm wondering if you can do a favor for me." Sandaime Hokage asked.

"What is it old man?" Ekichi asked.

"I know that you don't like having any ties being attached to you, but I need you to train that young boy over there."

"You mean him?" Ekichi said, pointing his right index finger towards Naruto. "Why should I?"

"Uzumaki Naruto no longer has the ability to mold chakra. As a matter of fact, he doesn't even seem to emit any chakra at all ever since an encounter with some mysterious stranger ten days ago. All we know about the stranger was that he wore a black cloak that had some red clouds placed all over it. He claimed that he was there to rid the world of the biju and that he wanted to start with the strongest of the biju."

'Can it be _him_?' Ekichi thought.

"I don't know." Ekichi spoke. "I don't see how I can benefit from all this."

"I could always summon Tsunade back to Konoha." The Hokage replied, looking down at the weapon's master. "One word of you being here will bring her here even faster than the Yellow Flash."

"That's blackmail." Ekichi accused, "just because she's currently looking around the continent for me due to losing over twenty million ryou..." Ekichi then paused and continued to speak. "If you call her here, I doubt that there'll be any peace and tranquility in the village for a very long time."

"If you train Naruto-"

"I'll do it. I don't know why, but the voice of the wind is saying that I'll benefit from training the boy." Ekichi interrupted. "For now, just get me a house near some training grounds and make sure that you don't have anyone spying on me."

"Deal, now onto other matters. There's the problem of you attacking anything that annoys you. I suggest that you-" the Hokage was then interrupted by the sound of a groan which came from Naruto.

Naruto's body stirred a little and he soon opened his eyes. He was glad that he was seeing a familiar ceiling and attempted to stand. As he stood, he quickly lost his balance and fell back down onto the ground muttering curses at his failed attempt. Ekichi laughed at Naruto seeing that the seven year old knew a lot of curses that even elite Jounins don't know and the Hokage just stared at the scene in front of him. It's been a long time since the Hokage saw Ekichi laughed and smiled.

"Man what hit me?" Naruto spoke in a quiet tone after he finished cursing. A few seconds have passed when he started to speak again, "Oh yeah, it was those three kids with those stupid pipes."

'Three kids? Pipes?' both the Hokage and Ekichi thought at the same time.

"I recall hearing from a Chuunin that there were three kids who were found in the same building as Naruto. I was told that they were hanging on the wall unconscious when I sent a Chuunin team to find three missing students earlier in the day." The Sandaime spoke in a quiet tone, voicing his thoughts.

Ekichi heard and started to voice his opinion.

"I know for a fact that there was no one in the vicinity when I arrived. That was when I noticed that two chuunins were carrying off the three students. I also know that it couldn't have been Naruto that did it since both of his shoulders were dislocated when I saw him. The Chuunin there was fixing that problem as I watched for a short bit."

"I see. I'll talk to the three students when they recover and I'll talk with Naruto when he's feeling better. Right now, it looks like he'll need some sleep." The Hokage said to Ekichi.

Ekichi nodded his head and Naruto looked up at Ekichi.

"Hey old man, who's this midget?" Naruto asked.

'Oh boy,' the Hokage thought as he let out a sigh.

"I AM NOT A MIDGET. FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, YOU'RE SHORTER THAN I AM!" Ekichi yelled at Naruto.

To the Hokage, it seems as though Naruto managed to regain a lot of his energy seeing that Naruto was going to yell a response right back to the weapon's master.

"I ONLY HAPPEN TO BE SEVEN YEARS OLD. YOU ON THE OTHER HAND APPEAR TO BE ONLY FIVE FEET AT THE AGE OF THIRTY!"

"THIRTY! I HAPPEN TO BE AT THE BEGINNING OF MY YOUTH AT THE YOUNG AGE OF TWENTYONE YOU BRAT."

"YOU'RE TWENTYONE YEARS OLD AND YOU'RE THAT SHORT!"

The Hokage had enough of the bickering and voiced out to the duo.

"SILENCE!"

Both Ekichi and Naruto looked at the Hokage. The two of them were silent seeing that they've never heard the old man yell before.

"Naruto, this here will be your teacher for your weapons training. Naruto, this is Weapon's Master Ekichi."

"WHAT!"

**_00000 _**

I'm currently looking for a beta for my stories. If anyone is interested, send me an email.


	3. Prelude

**Weapons Master Naruto**

Chapter 3: Prelude

"OI OLD MAN!!! What the hell do you mean by letting the midget become my teacher?" Naruto yelled.

"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO YELL THIS? DON'T CALL ME A MIDGET BLONDIE." Ekichi yelled to Naruto.

"BEING BLONDE IS DEFINITELY BETTER THAN BEING SHORT AT YOUR AGE DWARF-SAN."

"THAT'S IT!!" Ekichi hollered.

Ekichi lunged out towards Naruto. As he moved towards Naruto, he pulled out a small dagger from within his shield and was ready to strike. When he was only one foot away from striking distance, Ekichi's view of Naruto was blocked as a wall of earth gushed up like a geyser and shielded Naruto.

"BOTH OF YOU STAND DOWN!" The Hokage roared.

The effect was immediate. Ekichi calmed down and placed his dagger back into the shield. As the wall shielding Naruto shrink down back onto the ground, he saw that Ekichi's dagger suddenly vanish as it entered the shield.

"Ekichi, I was going to offer you assistance in searching after _him_, but that was only if you didn't strike at anything and everything that annoyed you." The Hokage said after his jutsu was dispelled.

"You were going to help in my quest?"

"I was. Now however, you must train Naruto for at least one year before I offer my services. You know how well our information network is. If I can get into contact with my old student Jiraiya, I should be able to enable access to his information network and his information network is among the best there is."

Ekichi snorted. He couldn't believe what hearing.

"'How good your information network is?'" Ekichi repeated with disbelief. "Your information network is pathetic compared to the one that existed during the last war. If your information network is as good as you said it was, you should've known about the attack against Blondie over there."

"Hey!" Naruto yelled.

Naruto's yell fell on deaf ears. The Hokage and the weapons master both ignored Naruto as Ekichi continued speaking.

"I'll agree that Jiraiya's information network is one of the best, it's still not _the_ best that's out there. I know of two others whose information network is greater and one of them belongs to _him_."

Naruto, who was confused with what's going on, decided to ask a question. He hoped that he would understand if more information was handed out.

"Who does the other information network belong to?"

Ekichi looked at the blonde for a sec and then answered.

"That's a…"

Naruto unconsciously leaned forward in anticipation. Ekichi was so tempted to say that 'it's a secret' but decided against it.

"I honestly don't know." Ekichi concluded.

Naruto face faulted and the Hokage almost did also but managed to compose himself in time.

"The person who runs the information network sends me letters whenever the person has information that's vital to me. I've never met the person personally, but I was told that the person goes by the code name of Ed."

"Ed?" both Naruto and Sarutobi repeated simultaneously.

"What kind of informant goes by the name of Ed?" Naruto asked. "Also, what the heck is an informant?"

Ekichi looked at Naruto puzzled.

"Doesn't this brat have any schooling at all?" Ekichi asked the Hokage.

Sarutobi looked at Naruto for a sec.

"He was just recently admitted to the academy. Before that, he was living in an orphanage which practically ignored him. He managed to pick up the bare basics in math and reading, but beyond that…" the Sandaime left the sentence incomplete.

"Oi Blondie, let's get going." Ekichi relied a minute later, breaking the deafening silence.

Naruto decided to let it slip and accept the fact that he will be learning from Ekichi. From the way things sound, it sounded like he really didn't have much of a choice.

"Sure thing midget-sensei." Naruto replied, following Ekichi as he headed out of the office.

'I mustn't lash, I mustn't lash, I mustn't lash' Ekichi repeated in his mind. As he was about to leave the office, he heard Sarutobi speak.

"You are to head to Training Area 51. The location is-"

"Training Area 51. Got it." Ekichi said, still walking towards the door. He waved his hand in a dismissive jester making Sarutobi think that Ekichi knew where Training Area 51 was at.

_**00000**_

Five minutes after Naruto and Ekichi left the Hokage's office, they were lost. The duo were trying to find the training ground where the Sandaime said that they were supposed to train at but somehow ended up in the middle of some place called 'Training Area 44'.

"Man what's up with this place?" Naruto complained. He just got up after tripping over a tree root.

"I'm not sure. This doesn't look like training area 51. I think that we should've taken that left turn at the dango shop instead of the right." Ekichi said.

Ekichi jumped up to a large tree over head and saw that there was a tower that was only a mile towards the north. Jumping down from the tree, Ekichi started heading north with Naruto following in tow.

As the two walked, Naruto tripped again. Ekichi lost track at how many times Naruto had tripped and fallen and sighed. After helping Naruto up, he told Naruto to follow.

"When I see Watari, I'm going to make him pay for not giving us specific directions on where Training Area 51 is at." Ekichi complained.

"Watari?" Naruto asked.

"I guess that the majority of the populous on the continent wouldn't know about Watari. I'll let you in on a secret."

Naruto grinned and listened. He wanted to jump up in the air, but knowing that Ekichi would bonk him over the head prevented him from doing so.

Ed saw his smile and smiled briefly. 'Guess this kid doesn't have much of what is considered a happy life.'

"The secret I'm about to tell you is considered to be a Triple S class secret. This means that you can tell absolutely NOBODY. Got that?" Ekichi asked.

Naruto seemed to grasp the importance of the secret and nodded his head. At that moment, he was curious as to why his sensei would tell him something of great importance.

"Watari is the name of the Hokage. The Sandaime's full name happens to be Sarutobi Watari. The mystery of the Sandaime's given name is one of the world's greatest mysteries. Only Watari's mother outside you, me, and Watari actually know his given name. The only mysteries greater than the Sandaime's first name would be the origin of the biju and what's really beneath the mask of one known as Hatake Kakashi."

Naruto, being curious in nature due to being neglected a majority of the time, was about to ask more questions like 'What are biju?' and 'Who that heck is Hatake Kakashi?' but was denied the pleasure since a large tower started to appear in front of him.

The duo entered the tower and saw that there was nobody inside. The saw a set of stairs and went up. On one floor, the two were shocked at what they saw when they entered one room on the third floor. Inside the room, there was a man wearing green spandex and a Jounin's vest and a woman who was wearing similar clothing doing something that should forever be considered an S-Class Kinjutsu.

"Gai-kun."

"Mi-chan."

"Gai-kun."

"Mi-chan."

"Gai-kun."

"Mi-chan."

"Gai-kun."

"Mi-chan."

After the two finished repeating each other's name, a sunrise appeared out of nowhere with a beautiful mountain background appearing behind the two of them.

"My eyes. There's something wrong with my eyes." Naruto yelled out.

"Kid, I've seen the horrors of war. I've killed more than I've ever bothered to count. I've even tortured people to the point where they would feel everlasting pain. But this is something that will haunt me for the remainder of my soul's existence. I only wish that my soul would vanish after this life is done and not reincarnate." Ekichi said in a quite tone.

The two known as Gai-kun and Mi-chan saw that they had company and broke apart.

"Can I help you two youthful strangers on your journey of youth?" Mi-chan asked. "Oh sorry, I forgot to introduce myself and my husband. How unyouthful of us. I'm Might Misora and this," she pointed over to Gai, "is my husband Might Gai." (1)

"I'm Ekichi and this is Naruto." Ekichi said quickly, pointing to Naruto right before saying the name. "We're trying to look for Training Area 51. You wouldn't happen to know where it's at do you?"

"Misora, this is unyouthful to me, but I'll have to ask you to leave for now. This is now under the law placed by the Yondaime." Gai said, looking at Misora.

Misora nodded her head and left the room. After making sure that the room was secure and that nobody was listening, Gai spoke.

"How do you know about training area 51?" Gai asked.

It was very faint, but Ekichi noticed that Gai was ready to strike depending on what their answer was. Pretending not to notice, he was about to answer when Naruto beat him to it.

"The old man Hokage said that we're to head over to Training Area 51. Midget-sensei here is supposed to teach me how to become the strongest weapons master of all time."

"Watch it Blondie." Ekichi warned.

"Whatever you say," Naruto said, then in a low tone Naruto replied, "Dwarf-san."

"THAT'S IT! YOU'RE DEAD!" Ekichi exclaimed.

Ekichi tackled Naruto and the two started to brawl. A few seconds later, Gai determined that the two of them weren't threats and after reviewing Naruto's words as well as Naruto himself, he decided to intervene. Moving at his fastest, he moved himself in between the two.

Gai held Naruto by the top of his shirt while Ekichi managed to avoid Gai and was in the process of retrieving a weapon from inside his shield. As he was about to summon a weapon Gai spoke.

"I've determined that the two of you aren't threats. Let me ask the two of you this. Do you know of the importance of Training Area 51?" Gai asked.

"Isn't area 51 technically not supposed to exist?" Ekichi replied with a question.

"Yes actually. But that's not what's important about it. Training Area 51 is the personal training area of the Yondaime Hokage himself. I can see that the Hokage entrusted the area to the two of you. I will personally escort you there then head out to see my youthful wife." Gai said.

Ekichi decided for once to not push his luck. He nodded and saw that Gai placed Naruto back down onto his feet.

"Follow me then." Gai said.

Gai headed for the door while Naruto and Ekichi followed. Muttering quietly, the student and apprentice glared at each other.

"I'll get you for this Blondie."

"Right back at you Dwarf-san."

_**00000 **_

Half an hour has gone by since the traumatic encounter with Gai. Naruto and Ekichi have tried and failed many times to rid themselves of the memory. As the trio walked, Naruto was being stared at by the general public while Ekichi glares back at said general public. Gai ignored pretty much everything while leading Naruto and Ekichi to Training Area 51.

Soon enough, the trio had left the general vicinity of the village and headed deep into the woods. As the three walked, Naruto saw that there were a couple of kits playing. He smiled at the two kits as he walked by. Not a moment later, Gai stopped. Naruto was about to question as to why they stopped when Ekichi grabbed Naruto shoulder. Naruto looked up and saw that Ekichi shook his head meaning not to speak.

Naruto looked around again quickly to asses where he's at. He saw the two kits playing towards the left and then looked towards the right. The right showed only an endless path of trees. He looked towards where Gai's at and saw that there was a giant black wall obstructing their path.

Gai took out a scroll from a pocket on his vest. He unrolled said scroll and threw it down onto the ground. A bright white light appeared from the scroll within seconds and Naruto and Ekichi had to cover their eyes. Gai stared to form hand seals and finished when the light faded.

"Open!" Gai yelled out.

The black wall vanished and the training area, Training Area 51, appeared. The training area was unlike anything Naruto has ever seen. It would take a while to explore the place in its entirety, but from what he saw as he enter the area, he saw that there was practically every type of terrain. He can see an area that was similar to a desert towards his left while towards the right had a mountainous look. As he walked, he saw that there was a house located in front of him.

The house didn't appear to be very big from the outside. One could see right off the bat that the house had two stories and that there was a chimney shooting off from the top. Gai pulled out a key from another pocket of his vest and tossed it to Ekichi.

"Since your Naruto's guardian, I give you this key. This is one of three copies available. I'll get my arch-rival Kakashi to bring over another key for Naruto. The third key is currently in the possession of the Hokage. And with this I have to see my Mi-chan. May the spirit of youthfulness be with you my youthful companions."

Gai left in a whirl of leaves. Ekichi looked at the key briefly and placed the key in the keyhole of the front door. Turning it to the left, the door unlocked and opened. Taking the key out of the keyhole, Ekichi placed the key in his pocket. Naruto rushed right in and Ekichi let out a sigh.

"Oi Naruto, head to the living room. I'll tell you what I'm going to teach you for the next five years."

"Five years? You're really going to teach me for the next five years? But what about the _him_ person you said you were after?" Naruto shocked Ekichi since all those questions were said in one breath.

"I'm going to make sure that you've become a great weapons master. I'm going to see if I can get you assigned as a lone Genin and see if I can enter you into the Chuunin exams once you're twelve. After you're a Chuunin, I'll pull some strings with Ed and see if you can be placed in the Hunter-nin division of ANBU. If you are, you can be assigned to assist me in chasing _him_. After you assist me in defeating _him_, you're goal in becoming Hokage will be closer than you can ever realize."

"Who's Ed again?" Naruto asked.

"Forget about it for now. My first goal is to get you educated. For this, I'm going to head back into the village and buy you some texts books."

"Why do I have to do boring stuff like that? Won't I still be going to the academy?" Naruto questioned.

"You're going to drop out of the academy for now. Most of the stuff you'll learn there is nothing compared to the first hand experience that you'll learn with me."

"I guess I can see your point." Naruto's face fell slightly then returned to being cheerful.

"Do you think I can go with you to the village?" Naruto asked.

"Sure. We can get something to eat also since I can't cook to save my life. Got anywhere special to eat?"

"ICHIRAKU!" Naruto shouted out.

_**00000**_

After arriving at Ichiraku's, Naruto ordered some miso ramen. After ordering, Naruto looked around real fast and saw that there was a man with pointy ears eating at a nearby table. The man looked up after finish his bowl and saw that Naruto was looking at him. Naruto looked away quickly and started to eat the ramen that was placed in front of him.

As Naruto ate, the pointed ear man stood and sat beside Naruto. Naruto saw that the man was sitting beside him and stopped eating his ramen.

"Hey kid, I like the look in your eyes. How would you like to work under my wing?" the man asked.

"Sorry but I already have a sensei." Naruto said.

Naruto somehow sensed that the man wasn't a threat and continued to finish his ramen.

"There's no rule stating that you have to have only one sensei. Besides," the man then moved his head towards Naruto's ear and whispered, "I know all about you. I know that you're currently with the weapon's master and that you're using the hidden training area Training Area 51. I also know why the village hates you."

Naruto was lucky he just finished swallowing his last bit of ramen. He would've choked otherwise.

"You know why the village hates me?" Naruto asked.

"Work under me and learn all of my skills. After your done learning all that I can teach you, you'll be feared throughout the entire land. Plus, information is always important for a Hokage to have." The man said.

"Deal. What's your name anyways?" Naruto asked.

"You can call me Ed for now. YA-HA."

* * *

(1) I'm going to be using Might for now on as Gai's surname instead of Maito since that's what its supposed to be anyways. Words that end with T in Japanese always seem to end with the O syllable. A good example would be Bleach with the Bounts when its been mis-translated as Bounto. Another example would be Kakkarot and I've seen it translated as Kakkaroto. 


End file.
